Joanna Connor and this writer go way back.

The guitar slingin' blues woman was my first interview at the first newspaper I ever worked for. I was a sophomore in college and Connor was a brand-new inductee to Gibson's roster of endorsees.

I conducted the phone interview on a Tuesday and on Friday headed to Connor's gig to meet her. It was with great pride she removed a pristine tobacco sunburst Les Paul Classic from its shiny new case to show me. For the rest of that night, Connor and her Les Paul belted out a powerful but raw brand of groove-based blues. As the night wore on, I even got to sit in and bend a string or two.

A year later, Connor and I repeated the experience, except that now what was left of the Les Paul's case was covered with stickers from all over the world. The guitar was starting to adopt that cool "aged" quality that an ax can only get from countless smoky bar gigs. Connor was equally ferocious that night with a guitar style occupying a strange middle ground between Albert King and Zakk Wylde.

Needless to say, it was really cool to see Connor play on the Gibson stage at the Chicago Blues Festival last June. Connor had a different backstage persona than before, less talkative, more hyper, a bit nervous. But this, she explained, was due to the fact that she was playing to her hometown crowd. She did, however, take a moment to show me her Les Paul, which is now a well-worn veteran of almost eight years on the road.

On stage, it was a different Connor too. Her band had "tha' fonk" like they always have, but Connor whipped off no heavy metal licks and had a much more refined tone. Best of all, Connor had come into her own as a slide player. In fact, I'd even venture to say that slide is now Connor's strong suit. With long-time backing guitarist Anthony Palmer supplying spanky clean rhythm guitar, Connor would glide effortlessly between rumbling chords and crying leads.

Opening with the title track from her Blind Pig release Big Girl Blues Connor's long-time bassist Stan Mixon and drummer Larry Ortega immediately got the crowd bumpin' with a thumping groove. Aside from her playing, Connor's other obvious attribute is her voice. Taking stylistic cues from Aretha Franklin, Connor had no problem belting out over the band, punctuating her lyrics with nimble slide licks.

Connor's nervousness didn't seem to affect her between song antics, which including working the crowd up into a froth yet (in a somewhat self contradictory manner) sheepishly batting her eyes at the audience. It worked though.

Connor separates herself from most blues artists by writing songs that deviate from the standard 12-bar format and, well, by writing songs period. But Connor is a blues artist all the same, which makes it difficult to review her concert. In other words, mentioning that they blazed through a shuffle, simmered with a slow grinding blues then played a funky, upbeat number would be pointless (although I guess I did just mention it). With a blues artist, it comes down to whether or not the vibe is right. Joanna Connor and her Les Paul certainly have it right, and have the entire time I've known about her.